Wizard of the Waiting Room

“Boredom”- 1 word that shaped Alex’s career. 

Waiting at the bus stop or an airport lounge, killing time was Alex’s biggest challenge. Reading population carried books, many others carried portable music systems. Either way,people ensure they have a “baggage of entertainment” to keep boredom away. 

There are long queues outside ration shops, because they have no waiting rooms. Waiting lounges at airports offer high priced distraction options. 

Alex "disapproved" both these extremes. His idea was simple. If “Waiting time” comes bonded with a service, then such waiting experience should not be taxing. Waiting at airports, should not mean expensive luxury. Waiting at a Doctors Clinic should not lead to anxiety. Waiting at crowded Cab station, should not be a tiring.

Alex “defined the traits” & “designed waiting rooms” to address them.
He made "waiting" a memorable experience.  Long Queues became interesting, Waiting Lounges turned entertaining, and for Alex, it set cash registers ringing. In the world of architecture, Alex earned a title "Wizard of the Waiting Room”. What started as boredom at the age of 7, led to innovations at 17 and by 70, Alex had created a revolution in the world of Waiting Rooms.

It was now time for him to pass this legacy. Somebody also suggested he should write a book. As Alex was mulling over this idea, it reminded him of Mike, a college friend and regular writer for college magazine.  23 years was too long a period to not stay in touch. Alex was not sure what genre of writing Mike mastered.  And whether he would agree to write a biography for Alex, was a bigger question. Gripped with anxiety he approached Mike and put forth his proposal.  Mike hesitated, later agreed, Alex felt relieved.
With child-like curiosity he asked Mike "How many books have you penned so far?”.Mike quipped “Well, I am still in a Waiting Room. Someday the door to the Writers Desk would open & I will be a Writer”.

Silence followed. Mike’s words echoed in Alex’s mind.  At 72, Mike was still an aspiring writer, his writings still unpublished.The publishing house he worked for, was his waiting room, where he waited for the literary world to accept his writings. 

It made Alex take a fresh look at “the concept of waiting rooms". A shoemaker – Waiting to be Leather merchant, a cook wanting to be a Chef. Each one had stationed themselves in different waiting rooms, hoping that, "the door to their dreams" would open someday!!

The Wizard of the Waiting Room, played no role in building, designing or innovating these places.  At 7, Alex thought, Waiting meant boredom. At 70, he realized, it could also mean " Hope"

This post is a part of Write Over the Weekend, an initiative for Indian Bloggers by BlogAdda.